UM Regents approve Schembechler Hall renovations

OK of $14.8 million plan paves way for new football performance center

A statute of Bo Schembechler erected in front of Schembechler Hall on University of Michigan's campus in Ann Arbor.

The University of Michigan Board of Regents on Thursday approved a $14.8 million plan to build a football performance center in Glenn Schembechler Hall.

The blueprint includes roughly 24,000 square feet of renovations to meeting, equipment and administrative rooms, and construction of 8,000 square feet of space for athletic medicine, rehabilitation, wellness and nutrition, the news release said. Schembechler Hall, named after legendary football coach Bo Schembechler, was built in 1990 on the Ann Arbor campus.

New York City-based Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates was hired to design the project. The university will announce construction details upon design approval, the news release said. It will create about 46 on-site construction jobs, the release said. A contractor will be decided on in upcoming weeks, spokesman Kurt Svoboda said.

This follows approval of Oosterbaan Field House renovations by the board in February, which is connected to Schembechler Hall. Together, the projects will establish a football performance center that allows the entire team to work out at the same time, the news release said.

The Schembechler Hall project will be funded by planned Athletic Department resources and gifts.